Google starts bullying...
I wondered how long it would be before Google screwed up something, somewhere, and decided to start bullying us about AdSense. Even though they're making money hand over fist with the program, the word on the webmaster forums out there is that they have a nasty tendency to shut down accounts on false pretense. But we'll hope that's not the case here.
The funny thing is, they're not complaining about my little yellow note on this site; they're on my case about my wife's blog! Wow!
At least I'll have some topics for the podcast now!
Check out Google AdSense - Program Policies for a little light reading, (and maybe take a peek at the page they dislike over at Ruth's Blog)... and then see if my Minnesota passive-agressive response to them makes sense:
----- Original message -----
To: adsense-support@google.com
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 22:36:26 -0500
Subject: Re: Google AdSense
Hello! Please explain in additional detail how pages such as
http://ralarson.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_ralarson_archive.html are out of
compliance with your policies. Your e-mail of this evening is
inadequate:
1) The site contains no phrases of any kind that might call attention to
the ads
2) The site contains no arrows or symbols that might draw attention to
the ads
I honestly believe that all of our pages are in 100% compliance with
your TOS, which we've reviewed thoroughly.
In fact, the site you reference is on Blogger (owned by Google) and the
ads are simply included within one of the Blogger-provided default
templates; I'm extremely surprised that you believe this actually
violates your TOS! How?
As soon as you inform us as to what "the necessary changes" are, we'll
gladly make them within 72 hours. As an alternative, we'll also accept
an apology for your mistaken accusation and the time we've been forced
to spend to inform you of your error.
Thank you!
---Eric Larson
cc: Ruth Larson
On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 17:53:59 -0700, "Google AdSense"
said:
> Hello,
>
> While reviewing your account, we noticed that you are currently
> displaying
> Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies. For
> instance, we found violations of AdSense policies on pages such as
> http://ralarson.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_ralarson_archive.html
>
> Publishers are not permitted to encourage users to click on Google ads or
> bring excessive attention to ad units. For example, your site cannot
> contain
> phrases such as "click the ads," "support our sponsors," "visit these
> recommended links," or other similar language that could apply to the
> Google
> ads on your site. Publishers may not use arrows or other symbols to
> direct
> attention to the ads on their sites, and publishers may not label the
> Google
> ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements."
>
> Please make any necessary changes to your web pages in the next 72 hours.
> We
> also suggest that you take the time to review our program policies
> (https://www.google.com/adsense/policies) to ensure that all of your
> other
> pages are in compliance.
>
> Once you update your site, we will automatically detect the changes and
> ad
> serving will not be affected. If you choose not to make the changes to
> your
> account within the next three days, your account will remain active but
> you
> will no longer be able to display ads on the site. Please note, however,
> that we may disable your account if further violations are found in the
> future.
>
> Thank you for your cooperation.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> The Google AdSense Team
>
> --------------------------
>
> To avoid the risk of having your account disabled for violation of
> AdSense
> policies, we recommend that publishers also review the important
> guidelines
> found here:
> https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=23921&ctx=en
>
>
>
The funny thing is, they're not complaining about my little yellow note on this site; they're on my case about my wife's blog! Wow!
At least I'll have some topics for the podcast now!
Check out Google AdSense - Program Policies for a little light reading, (and maybe take a peek at the page they dislike over at Ruth's Blog)... and then see if my Minnesota passive-agressive response to them makes sense:
----- Original message -----
To: adsense-support@google.com
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 22:36:26 -0500
Subject: Re: Google AdSense
Hello! Please explain in additional detail how pages such as
http://ralarson.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_ralarson_archive.html are out of
compliance with your policies. Your e-mail of this evening is
inadequate:
1) The site contains no phrases of any kind that might call attention to
the ads
2) The site contains no arrows or symbols that might draw attention to
the ads
I honestly believe that all of our pages are in 100% compliance with
your TOS, which we've reviewed thoroughly.
In fact, the site you reference is on Blogger (owned by Google) and the
ads are simply included within one of the Blogger-provided default
templates; I'm extremely surprised that you believe this actually
violates your TOS! How?
As soon as you inform us as to what "the necessary changes" are, we'll
gladly make them within 72 hours. As an alternative, we'll also accept
an apology for your mistaken accusation and the time we've been forced
to spend to inform you of your error.
Thank you!
---Eric Larson
cc: Ruth Larson
On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 17:53:59 -0700, "Google AdSense"
> Hello,
>
> While reviewing your account, we noticed that you are currently
> displaying
> Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies. For
> instance, we found violations of AdSense policies on pages such as
> http://ralarson.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_ralarson_archive.html
>
> Publishers are not permitted to encourage users to click on Google ads or
> bring excessive attention to ad units. For example, your site cannot
> contain
> phrases such as "click the ads," "support our sponsors," "visit these
> recommended links," or other similar language that could apply to the
> ads on your site. Publishers may not use arrows or other symbols to
> direct
> attention to the ads on their sites, and publishers may not label the
> ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements."
>
> Please make any necessary changes to your web pages in the next 72 hours.
> We
> also suggest that you take the time to review our program policies
> (https://www.google.com/adsense/policies) to ensure that all of your
> other
> pages are in compliance.
>
> Once you update your site, we will automatically detect the changes and
> ad
> serving will not be affected. If you choose not to make the changes to
> your
> account within the next three days, your account will remain active but
> you
> will no longer be able to display ads on the site. Please note, however,
> that we may disable your account if further violations are found in the
> future.
>
> Thank you for your cooperation.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> The Google AdSense Team
>
> --------------------------
>
> To avoid the risk of having your account disabled for violation of
> AdSense
> policies, we recommend that publishers also review the important
> guidelines
> found here:
> https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=23921&ctx=en
>
>
>
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